Struggling Cavaliers, from Guards on Out, Need to Be Willing to Let LeBron Lead
Some of LeBron James' comments keep coming to mind during Cleveland's 1-3 start, somehow resonating even more than the relatable struggle he endured at the start of his time with the Heat, and even more than his warnings about the speed of this Cavaliers process since the moment he re-signed.
He made them during a conversation with Bleacher Report last May, when the Heat were preparing for their fourth straight Eastern Conference Finals. The topic was his reading, interpretation and application of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by management guru John C. Maxwell, a book he had just completed reading.
"If you're a part of this [Heat] culture, I believe you're here for a reason," James said then, of his own overriding philosophy. "Part of being a leader is making people also believe that sometimes they can do more than they actually can do. Giving them a sense of belief and confidence. And for me, I've always kind of done that. And I'm not downgrading what that individual can do. I'm just letting them know that they can do more than what they even thought they can do, and bring more to the game, and bring more to who they are as an individual than they thought they could."
James is in quite a different culture these days, a culture that, as he acknowledged this week to reporters, has been beset by "a lot of losing basketball around here for a few years" and all the "bad habits" that accompany, and tend to linger longer than, the losing. He has added two air fresheners from his previous situation, in Mike Miller and James Jones, and even embraced a former rival in Shawn Marion—proven people who understand what it takes to prepare and win. He has done so, in part, so they could help him cover the rank smell from the previous era.
Instead, through four games, including Wednesday's 102-100 loss to the Utah Jazz, he's still covering his nose. And shaking his head. And pressing hands to hips. He is not covering his eyes, nor will he. James is at a stage in his life and career when he will say what he believes should be said, in private or through the media, to ensure that everyone recognizes the need to sacrifice for the greater good.
The question is whether these teammates in general, but Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters in particular, have any interest in hearing, processing and embodying that. Whether they want to be led and, in turn, learn how to lead. Whether they care to be more than even they thought they could, or whether they are stubbornly satisfied with remaining what they have always been.
Start with Waiters, who didn't start on Wednesday, for what Cavaliers coach David Blatt framed as matchup and rotation reasons. Blatt instead opted for Marion's defensive mindset against the Jazz wings, reserving Waiters for backup ball-handling duties with the coach's early season favorite, Matthew Dellavedova, now out for several weeks with a knee injury.
But he didn't need any such reasons to make that decision.
Waiters' teammates already made it for him.
For all the wishful thinking that Waiters could provide the off-the-ball cutting that Wade did for James in Miami, the reality is that to fit well with the other four current Cavaliers starters, Waiters needs to also embrace more of a catch-and-shoot role, while all but abandoning his tendency to dribble, dribble, dribble and dribble some more. There simply aren't enough on-the-ball opportunities for four players at once, no matter how creative the coach, and especially not when three are established All-Stars. This was exemplified in Tuesday's loss to Portland by the number of times Waiters touched the ball in the frontcourt during the Cavaliers' first 12 possessions:
One.
That was a turnover.
On the other 11 possessions, the Cavaliers got the ball in the hands of three, four, four, two, one, two, three, two, two, two and three players. They made all nine of their shots and scored 24 points.
All with Waiters an utter offensive afterthought, before he exited.
Later, he made up for lost time, taking 11 shots, missing three of them, and making just five passes, with no assists, as the Cavaliers sputtered and then went splat. They missed 54 of their final 75 shots against Portland, finished with just 82 points and lost by 19.
All Waiters' fault? Of course not. But it's becoming increasingly apparent that, at age 22, he's not entirely ready to embrace the all-for-one agenda. That sense was clear early in training camp when, on the very same day James was telling the media Waiters should avoid getting involved in the way outsiders perceive him, the young guard was challenging Washington's Bradley Beal and declaring himself part of the NBA's best backcourt.
Confidence in itself is no crime, certainly not in this sport, certainly not playing with other stars—Miami's Mario Chalmers made that work for him over the past four years. But Chalmers also ultimately accepted a subordinate role, as well as a considerable share of constructive criticism. Some have compared Waiters to Chalmers, but so far, that's not close.
Chalmers did give for the common good, again and again. Waiters has more raw ability. But we already know, from Waiters' assorted interviews, way too much about his particular playing preferences. He didn't understand the fuss about his preseason shot selection. He doesn't see coming off the bench as any sort of solution. He isn't comfortable concentrating on a catch-and-shoot role, since "that's not my game."
Less of his game was on display Wednesday night. He played only 13 minutes, took only four shots, made a whopping seven passes, according to SportVU, and had one assist.
That assist, incidentally, was one more than the other member of what Waiters labeled the best young starting backcourt in the league, back when it was the starting backcourt.
Irving made 63 passes, according to SportVU, the most on the team, but it was hard to remember many of them since he played most of the night like a modern-day Allen Iverson, darting by and between multiple defenders to finish at the rim on his way to 34 points. That pass number does give one reason to pause, prior to criticizing him too harshly for failing to record an assist. That can be a small-sample-size statistical anomaly, a product of a particular night's circumstances.
Still, he shouldn't get a complete pass either.
Irving doesn't talk to the media all the time; he has skipped availabilities following the first training camp practice, on the night he returned from an ankle injury in the preseason and after the loss in Portland on Tuesday (the last of which followed an exchange of words with James in the locker room, according to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst).
But when he has talked, he has talked a good game, about all he had learned from his mistakes of last season and from his teammates on Team USA, and all he hoped to learn from his new teammates on the Cavaliers. But, as he said on media day, about the expectations for him last season, "You never know how hard it is until you actually get to it." The same is true now, but this is much, much harder, because this team, unlike any of his previous ones, is attracting extraordinary attention and has championship aspirations.
James, who has never played with a point guard like Irving at this level, empowered him early, by declaring that it was "Kyrie's show. He's our point guard. He's our floor general and we need him to put us in position to succeed offensively. He has to demand that and command that from us with him handling the ball."
Sometimes, that will mean shooting it. It must. Irving's 23 shots Wednesday weren't excessive; Dwyane Wade took at least that many in 11 different games in his first season playing with James, back in 2010-11. But too often, Irving didn't get to the set that would get his teammates engaged. The Cavaliers' six assists, four of which James recorded, were six fewer than the Heat recorded in any game during that choppy 2010-11 season, and three fewer than the Heat recorded in any of James' 292 regular-season games with Miami.
"We just can't win like that," James told reporters after Wednesday's loss. "We have to figure out a way to help each other."
Irving didn't disagree, though he did tell reporters he wasn't concerned about being shut out in assists, because "we have great players on this team. Sometimes, things happen in the game, and you have to take it. Me and 'Bron saw that at the end of the game. We gave guys ample opportunities; guys just weren't hitting."
There need to be even more opportunities for others. The one-on-one approach can't be allowed to stand, or there will be too much standing around. Further, all the Cavaliers need to be engaged on offense to keep them reasonably committed on defense. We knew the Cavaliers were short on core players with situational defensive awareness; only James, Marion and Anderson Varejao have been regarded as above-average individual defenders over the course of their careers.
Even so, effort can help overcome that.
The effort has been alarming. Don't just take my word on that.
Jazz television analyst Matt Harpring, a former 11-year veteran, took apart the Cavaliers from start to finish Wednesday, even while repeatedly calling Irving "an incredible talent" and gushing about James' career accomplishments.
"The Jazz are scoring with ease at every position."
"Cleveland's having a hard time staying in front of the Jazz guards."
"There's just no resistance. They're going right by Waiters."
"Cleveland is taking nothing away."
Harpring didn't exclude James from his evaluations, noting several times that Gordon Hayward was outplaying him. But James did rally to score 31 points, and his spectacular three-pointer from the corner and three free throws (part of a 12-of-12 performance) pulled the Cavaliers into a tie, before Hayward's buzzer-beating jumper won it for Utah.
Nor were the kids the only members of his complementary cast to make mistakes.
James was out on the break with Marion, when the 36-year-old forward tried to slip a crosscourt pass to James in transition. Trey Burke picked it, sprinted to the top of the Cavaliers' arc and swished a three-pointer. The camera panned over to James, scowling as he tried to catch his breath.
"That's gotta be so frustrating for LeBron James," Harpring said. "You've got a 2-on-1. All you got to do is lob it up, and Marion turns the ball over."
Harpring caught his own breath as play continued.
Then he did.
"You've got to realize where LeBron James was just in June, and how well the Heat were playing the game of basketball, and how well they knew each other," Harpring said. "Now he's going to this Cleveland where they're going back to really, just the basics, that they're struggling with."
They are, in plain sight.
That won't change until they meet him more than halfway.
Until they step back, listen up and let him lead.
Ethan Skolnick covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @EthanJSkolnick.
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